The Sun. — London, England, 1818-12-19 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE: VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT, DEC. 18. THE BLENHEIM ESTATE,. DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH• ~~ *:: HE ATTORNhY•GENERAL, AT THE REtATION or THE MARQUIS OF BLANDFOIIO, ANT) THE HON . AGAR ELLIS AND OTHERS, V. HIS 'GRACE THE Mr. Hamsoa, as Junior Counsel for the Noble Defendant, stated this vo be a bill filed by the plaintiffs, praying that the duteildant might be ordered to account for the produce of certain trees nhich had been cut down in Blenheim Park 'end di-posed of; and further, that he should - be Testrained by that Court from cutting down any more timber, or from committing other waste on the Blenheim Estate. The bill set forth some proceedings in Pailiament, which took place in the 3d and 4th of the reign of Queen Anne, when the,tlonae of Coinmons, on account of the signal aermiees and bleb exploits, particularly the mili tary achicvments rd the first Mike of :llarlhorough irm his victory at Blenheim, presented an Address to her Majesty she Queen, in which they ex , prelsed their gratittoic for those sereict s, and stars ett that her Majesty, es the fountain of ho nour, would grant some means of perpetirmoina his renown and glor v. The Address of the Com mons was followed buts corresponding Address front the Lords, and the Queen expaessed her perfect readiness to concur, in the do sire of bolt Houses. Au Act of Pailiatnent was tht crating the %Woodstock eat awl, coot ainioa 1894 acres, io Oxfordshire. It was afterwards found expe dient by the Queen and Parliament, and approv ed of by the Doke, that the est wts should go down, Ao rt a with the title, to Hs Grace's pos. tcrt' Y. BY the same Act, h("1" alai, s y " as " 11. powered in raise a certart sian for the erection of a splendid notasian, which was to be named Blenheim )loose, in ortkr that postetity should be acquainted e ith the sense of gratitude with .s Helm the nation had heel) art rotted ; and that the hoilding itself might stand a permanent mo torment, of his Grace's exploits. A subsequent Act of 'Parliament, in the reign of George I. after reciana the provisions of the Act of Queen Army, set fortis, that the erection of the mansion Blenheim, the gardens, grounds, ext. had been at the expellee of the Qrteen, out of the revenue granted to her by Parliament for that very pur pose It was accordingly enacted, that all de. mantis and claims of tradesmen prior 10 the year 1712 thomild he discharged by the Crown, Tl.e bill then complained that the Noble defendant had cat down several nees of considerable value at Blenheim Park, which were not only bialmly orna mental, but •nseful as a protection to the property. Ile had also cut down a great number of saplings at AI) no:seasonable part of the year, which lie had told, and 'hati-contrac:ed to tmnish several timber tor:chants with timber from the Park. The Bill went on to allege, that if the Cour did not inter fere and prevent him, the plaintiffs would be de prived of time protection which Parliamerat had provided for them, as the heirs 4nd descendants of the great Duke of Marlborough. To this Bill the defemlant had put in a .gener al demurrer —first , that no such, waste as the Bill stated had been cominitted ; secondly, that the discovety sought "ny the Mil could be of no service to the plaintiffs. Mr. Beta., for the Noble Defendant, main tained, that the intention of the grant was -to vest the estate its fee-simple in the Doke and his suc cessors, for which reason there was no reversion vested in the . Crown ; therefore the King's Attor ney-General-was improperly introduced as a party -- in the present suit. , The VICE-CHANCELLOR said, he conceived that the Duke remained revetsionary in fee, because the 2d of carieen Anne could never deprive him of the fee he hail obtained by the first Act. Mr. Beet, said, that waa exactly the case ; and it - confirmed his argument, because the 20 of Queen Anne limited the estates that were to go %rift the title, granting, at the same time, to the Duke and his successors certain privileges, but preventing them front alienation. There were two questions then to he considered ; first, what had been the doctrine of Courts of Equity in cases of equitable waste, so far as aenants for life were concerned ? Secondly, whether there was, in the case of the Noble Duke, any thing that should require a different mode of proceeding from 'others ? Before be should go further into the aprestion, he would observe, that when the in junction was moved for before Lord Chavaaellor his 'Lordship felt some difficulty in grant ing it, not finding, in his recollection, any case precisely similar, except that of Lord Shrews bury's ; and he granted it on the special condi tion, that notice should forthwith be served on the Noble Defendant. In common law, all per sons, except guardians, who were not tenants for life, had full power to cut down trees, The first Statute, pt eventing the making waste was, that of Matbridge. Lord Coke, in his 2d Institute, 299, speaking of that estate, says, " It furnishes tenants in dower-tenants by courtesy and .guar dians, but not tenants for life ;" for it says of such waste, " it most be owing t.o negligence of donors in not making a proper provision." The 2d Statute was that of Gloucester, which gave triple damages for waste committed. The next was the 2d of Westminster, which, besides the same damages, gave thens also retrospectively.— In the case of 1 4 Vane and Lord Bernard," in 1716, which Was for ass injunction to restrain the defendant from pulling drawn a mansion-house, the Court held it to be contrary to the meaning of the donor, and restrained him accordingly.— 'ln the case of " Abrams and Budd," which was for felling trees, Lord Chancellor Nottingham thought he could not restrain the defendant ; but that if he went to-poll down houses, the Court would interpose. The Learned 'Counsel stated other cases to the same effect, and con-' eluded, that the fee was vested in the great Duke and his successors, under the first of Queen Anne, • end whoever was in possession entail, had the right to cut down timber, and dispose of it. 'Pa: plaintiffs, by the present ploceediug, were trying to deprive the Noble Defendant of his common l ista s i g ht. Would the Counsel, said the Learned - Gentleman,. pretend to say, the estate ought to stand precisely its the same state as when it was first granted by Cancel) Anne ? The VICa•CHANCELLOI said they must 90 argue, 'fit the Iteaniog flee deed oi girt Vas, Blenheim was to remain in the s►anme state as it was at when possessed by the first Duke of Marl borough. Mr. BELL then said,thevtnnst contend that the Noble Defendant had not the right of making any improvementon the premises. it was well known that a change had taken place in the fashion of carriages since the days•rif Qneen Anne, and ac cording to the present argument, his Grace could tint enlarge a coach-road so as to admit 2 modern carriage. Ile supposed it would be contended that 'the Noble Defendant, if the 'Diane ion were not Continued, would level the mansion to the ground, and that every Englishman would be en raged that such a monnintut of the nation's vic tories should be destroyed. Would it not, said he, be better to trust its safety to the care of the owner sin possession, thin for the Corot to inter fere is lie trusted his llonour would allow the demnrrer and dismiss the bill. Mi. WRAY and Mr. IlAmsos followed on the same side. e rk! SOLICITOR-GF N Coougel for the plaintids, said, the present .was ft goestion of great important e, not only to tie parties, but to the Public at large ; for it was, whetlicr the Duke of I.l . l,rlborotigh or any of his successors bad the right and power of pulbug down a splendid mo nument of British gratitude for - the unparalleled victories of his ancestor. The demnirer must admit, for tbe_porpose of the argument, that the detend,unt bail cut rlown trees, and be had a - right to contend that the trees were planted in the time of Queen Anoe. . '1 he Virp-cn,%NcELLoil here interrupted the Learned tioneilor, s‘iyitte that the usual dine for the Comitl'a rising had arrived, and that he should hear the rrtnalotivr of the case to-morrow.-- Proceedings deterred till to-morrow. counT OF KING'S BENCH, Dcc. IS. FALtiE INIPRISONNIENT. STAIGHT V. GEE AND GARS ER. This W:l3 an action to, recover damages for false imprisonment, limier the following circum stances :—The an ivory carver, accom panied by Ansley, a groom, was returning to London on the sth of October, \s ill' a horse he hail been to take Op from grass. They stopped at Ilackney, ant! wept into the Cock, a public-house kept by the defendant Gee. The plaintiff went out to toly some chops; but being unable to pro cure change from the butcher's, showed a it. note to the defendant Gee, which, it seemed, had been thought suspicious by the butcher. The defen dant Gee said it was a forged note, anti asked the plaintiff if he had any more ; the plaiutiff showed him another, arid the defendant Gee having taken both, refused! to restore them, saying (as was stated by one of the plaintiff's witnesses) that he had taken many bad notes, and the first person he caught uttering thi mhe would punish. At this time a soldier, quartered in the house, went oat, and informed one Merry, a constable, of the transaction. Merry returned with him. In the mean time the plaintiff had demanded the restora tion of his notas in vain, although he had written his name and address ot► them. He then went out with Ansley, as Ansley stated, for the purpose of finding a constable. Merry took the notes to the house of Mr. Fish, a Bank Inspector, who was ifl in bed ; and the notes being shown him be his wife, she told Merry her husband said they► were perfectly good, and had marked them with his initials. Merry returned, .and seeing the plaintiff and Ansley conferring together at a little distance, took them both into custody, and placed them in charge of the soldier and Garver, the de fendant, another constable, in a parlour in Gee's house. The plaintiff and Ansley were then search ed, and their shoes and stockings taken off. The watch of one of them was held - up jeeringly, as if he had not come honestly by it. They were then handcuffed together; and taken in the rain from Hackney to the Public-office, Worship-street, the defendant Gee walking with a stick before them. Thee were there discharged, after having been in custody from a little after tour till near nine.— The notes were proved to be good. 'l'he•defence set up for Gee was, that the con stables had acted-without i►is order or directions; and to i►rove this, the soldier quartered in his house stated, that be had gone out and called the officer Merry entirely of his own accord, and without any order whatever from Gee ; he did not know who gave the notes to Merry ; Merry had gone out of the parlour to fetch them. The officer hail proceeded to confine the plaintiff, be cause he did not believe the inspector's wile had shewn him the notes ; hut Gee was in the room during some part of the time when the plaintiff was searched. Another• witness stated, that Gee said he did not wish the plaintiff and Ansley to be searched or handcuffed ; and that tine plaintiff, on retui ing to Hackney front the public-office in Wor ship•street, drank a glass of gin at the defet►dant's house. The defence set up for Garver was, that he was acting as a constable, and that the grievance complained of having been committed in Middle sex, the venue ought to have been laid in that county, under the 21st of James, c. 12. • The Learned CHIPF JUSTICE was of opinion, that though he had no warrant, he was acting as a constable, and was therefore within the Act ; and a verdict was found for him but the Jury found a verdict against Gee, the other defendant —DArtuges, 501. COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, DEC. 8. LIBEL. ASSIGNEES 07 WALDBOIRAVII V. BI6NOLD. This was an action for damages in - consequence. of a libel published by the defendant, who was Secretary for the Norwich Union insurance Com— , patty. Mr. Setjeant Lars stated the case for the Plain ►iffs, the circumstances of which are as follow : ►►'aldegrave having his premises insured in the Norwich Union Office, applied to the .defendant for payment of _7191. 6s. in consequence of (t. wages which those premises had sustained by. fire. The defendant refused to pay this stu►, which, however, Wahlegrave recovered upon a trial'of the cause. Of this trial the defendant published a history, with cotntttet►ts, in which comments- he rosinita:ed thatWaldegtave i t atl set file to h 4 own premises. The gist of the lihel upon Wahleg,rave was expressed in the following terms :-4c Suspi cions fires always happen on Sarnrday or Sunday. This fire happened on a Saturday night, and the cause of it 'has never been ascertained."—There were also several other reflect ions,kut not quite so severe, upon the consloct Mildegrave. It was proved that 3000 copies of this history were published in hand-bills, and 2000 also in im pressions of a Weekly Newspaper; called The Bri tish Luminary. The Prin t er oi the hand-hing, and the ruitlter of The British ,Luminary, deposed, that they re received the copy of the libel complained of front the defendant. The Proprietor of the Bull Inn, Bishopsgate street, whose prettiiges are contiguous to those of Waldegrave,deposed ; lhat the tire which damaged the residence of the latter was occasioned by a horse• keeper in his service, who incautiously tak ing a lighted candle into one of his stables, set tire to it, and was himself burned to death. The person who valued the property of grave, whit!) had been destroyed by fire, deposed that it was worth the slim cha'tged and leeovered by him, in his action against the Norwich Union Insurance Office. No evidence was adduced lot the defendant, but Mr. Serjeant COFLgY addressed Ore Court and Jury in his behalf. The Learned connsel endea voured to she w that the publication complained of not written or tittered with a view to malign the character of Wahlegrave, but in order to im nrtss upon the Membrrs of the Norwich Ilnion Insurance Company, that the defendatit was jus tified in resisting the demand of 117441:rave, and in taking a defence to his action against that Company. The Jury, however, found a verdict for the plaintiffs—Damages, 5001. PROVINCIAL NEWS. ENGLAND. THE EARL OF HUNTINGDON.--This Nobleman is now on a visit to Sir E. Stracey's, Itackbeath, near Ibis city. There is something very extraor dinary iii' his history. His name is Hastings, and, with two elder brothers, he was lett at an early age under the guardianship of a noble relation, a well-known and once favourite associate of the Prince Regent. 't he two elder brothers were sent to the West Indies, where they both died. The youngest was placed in the army, and sent to the East Indies. -Some months ago he was'visiting in 'rebind, and a dispute having arise') bet ween him anti an Irish Peer. Capt. Hastings demanded the satisfaction of a Gentleman ; the Peer re he could not 'fight a Commoner. Captain Hastings declared that his claim to nobility was at least equal to that of the Peer, for that he was the rightful heir to the third Earldom of England. A Legal Gentleman present was 'minced, from this declaration, to make a further investiLtation into the claim, and accompanied Capt. Hastings into Leicestershire, where, after assts difficulty, the documents necessary to its establishment were obtained. That he had many and powerful ob stacles to encounter may be easily - imagined, for the very tombs of his ancestors were defaced and destroyed. He has nevertheless completely suc ceeded in establishing his claim to the title anti estates of the Earldom of Huntingdon, .anti now proceeding to recover possession of the pro perty which has so long been unjustly withheld front hien.—(Norgicli Courir.) Tbe Syndics of the Fitzwilliam Museum (Cam bridge) have made a fin ther report to the Senate, relative to ascertaining how far it is practicable to obtain the ground at present occupied ; by the Inn -and the neighbouring buildings, as,a site for theintended Milsenm; to accompliah which object it will be necessary to purchase Mr. Cory's house, part of the site of which, if the Senate approve the plan, ,will be thrown into the .intend ed new street, and part will be transferred to King's'College, in consideration of ground given up by that Society in tear of the proposed - Mu seum ; -to obtain from Clare Hall the White Horse and the.adjoining premises, part of the site of which will be occupied by the north end of the intended Museum, and the remainder transferred to King's College; to obtain from Catherine Hall the ground at 'present occupied by the Bull Inn and by the college stables, &e. and to. purchase the houses next to Catherine Hall, in the occu pation of Messrs. Smith and Kitupton. In order to carry the several transfers and purchases into effect, ate Act of Parliament tuns:. be obtained, embracing every point that has reference to the intended buildings, as well as the purchase of premises lying on the south of Catherine Hall, to be exchanged for the Bull Inn, &c.- IRELAND. The following is an extract of a letter from Newport, in the county of Tipperary, dated on Tuesday last : " The immediate vicinity of the village was kept inn state of ferment the entire morning of Sunday, in consequence of two factions, which have so long disgraced this country, having met by appointment on the Lord's day, to decide their bloody feuds. About /0 o'clock they met in time village, armed with loaded sticks, scythe. blades, and other deadly weapons, when:Mio. Ryan was so dreadfully beaten, that he died on Monday evening, and several others dreadfully cut and maimed." The nightly depredations still .continue in this ncighbourhod. On Thursday night last, four lar e ge pits of : potatoes were opened in afield be longing to a gentleman of this town, and all Ole good potatoes carried off, leaving those of an 'in different sort scattered over the wound. This prevalent and destructive practice will do more injury titan people are aware of, as it will deter many from planting.potatoes near the town, and, of course, increase the scarcity of the article, and advance the price upon the industrious pour.— ( Carlow frlorwing Post.) Wednesday last, a fine child Iva% taken out of the river Bartow, with a log of wood fastened to its neck. It is evident this must have beell the act of the unnatural parent.—(lbid.) SCOTLAND. The Gentlemen of the - County are about to re. 1,! me (!c c i s i ve ag4 . 11.10 the ! unis ince of public heggitig —(Glas;ou; ClitOn.) The Court of Session on Saturday tetosedl new trivl, on th e mot i on o f the P r oprietob 6 the Be!lust News Letter, against the verdict ()id!: Jury Court of Glaigow. The Court were 019111 .. i. mous ; hut we understand that Lord Beiges) and Lord Succoth expressed an opinion that di g 4lamages were too large.—(Mid ) EXTRAORDINARY TREE.-There is 8 tree, nE the silver kind, now, growing at Hutton John,' (he property of Andrew lindlestone, Esq. ishi o is 80 feet in height ; the first 60 feet from ground, containing 250 cubic feet ; the trunk: exclusive of branches, contains upwards of 3 0 ,? feet of timber. The first branch, which - is 2 feet from the base, contains 19 cubic feet. Th i/ tree is nerpeni!icuhr, and has stood for a WV' fury.—(Caletlonin4 Mercury ) A MAD BULL ortGa.—Yesterday morn . in„ about ,ball -past twelve, a general uproar took place on the Royal Exchange, and the tnerchantg were seen running in all directions, owing in g mad bull making his appearance in that place; and in the course of twenty minutes a great num ber of drovers, and a numerous rabble appeardi but -no one had courage enough to approach hint. The bull continued his wa'k round the'Change, at differeut tunes making attacks on the by-slanders , one of which nearly proved fatal to a man s WWI endeavouring to cross, was stopped'bv hitx, an" be immediately •made a butt, and was in the M I of tossing him when he slipped, and by this meno 4 the 01411 got clear, but not without injury. J A C Was then thought pr o p er t o c l ose th e gates, 9111.. officers wee sent for to keep the rabble out, w" wele then very numerous ; at length a sailor go t inside the railing in the centre of the 'Change , and a rope was thrown to him ; the bull' seeing this made for the place, and the sailor immetli. ately flung the rope round his neck, and made fast, anti in this situation held him till the droveto got a rope round bittl, and brought a cart, c` P which they fastened him, and conveyed him IVnitachapel, where he was slaughtered. Fr ei rious to his entering the city, he did mild) mil' chief, and goaded a GentletnatOs horse dreadfallf , Several Gentlemen, after the, hit!' was rakeig away, discovered that their pockets had been' picked, and that their watches and handkercbial were gone. All it•iness was -at a stand, OIL most of the shops and offices round the 'cbaog o were closed, Last night, between ten and eleven o'clock, a►t alarming fire broke out in the premises of Alessi''' . Hoot;, in Bread-street : however, by the aciit ° exertions of the Gentlemen in the house, assis t ' ed by the tire engines, it was fortunately sob' •+ithout further injury than to the V II where it commenced. MURDER AT HoaNsEY.---Two men undt.r a lung examination yesterday at 130w -street, be' tore Mr. 13 , JRNIII, ou Suspicion of having bee s concerned in perpetrating the recent murder nest Hornsey ; but the particulars it would not, 41 present, he prudent to submit to the public O re ' The prisoners were committed till another day• COURSE OF EXCHANGE, FRIDAY, Dcc. IS. 4111100Jan] •• • . Ditto, at sight 1 I (3 Rotterdam .... • . 11 to 2 CS' 4 cliitit we rp... • • •". . . , 11 111:z.M." 14 Hambiir•3l3 • 34 2 ?#,l`s. Altona e - i .4 8 2( 16 ' . Paris, a D'ay's sight . 24 0 0 1. 7.5 * Erato' .. • • • 24 80 2176. Bout dean x „ditto • 24 3) 0175: Frail li tort tilt the Main Madrid e Cadiz Militia 3 SI ilif,;ctAvr Seville Gibraltar Barcelona Leghorn . , ‘ Genoa... 463 . ---v , ertice, Ital. Liv. 25 50 Malta... ..60 -Naples 43 Palermo I.il.mn Oporto 55 F Rio Janeiro Dublin.... .. ~. 9 : 1. .... Cork ..... 9 per Cent. ,),gio of the Bank on Holland.... 2 per Cent. BULLION. Portugal Gold, in Coin 1.0 0 0 per (41 " Foreign G,p4d, in Bars 4 1 .0 New Dollars 0 5 4i Silver, in Bars ... 0 5 5 _ COAL MALIK KT, DECEMBER IS. Ships at Market. Ships sold. Price. u _ , as NeviTastlu . •ai ....37.5. Gil. to 46 4 . t)( " T 5 Sunderland . ....... '2 38s. od. to - - s• Elgin Man 1 Halheatti ar t , ; —.• BIRTH. On the 17th inst., at his house, Finsbuq-square, the 134 / of Mr. A. Stewart, of a son. MARRIED. T.atety, at the Palacet)f Corfu, Lieut.-Colonel 00 1 ; e 1 . -' Private S ecretary to his Excellencv Sir T. Maitland, to "'hi.' Catterina-Vaslaino, of the Island *4 Corfu.. D. EDI ~,,,1 ; 3 0 On Wednesday last, it a fit of . apopiexy, Cart. Will i Rawlins, of thy 'loyal Nam .. t er On Monday lasL N!r. Richard Williams, lately a Pa' . i. n rr in the "louse of Messrs. Bents, Carpenters'-hall, 1 ,0 " 7 wail. -------". PROVINCIAL I3IRTHS-, ARRIAGES, AND DEATII'' 81. i On. the 4th inst. the Lady.of ßTHS the Ver. Dr. Webb, I" Sta of Clare Hail, Cambridge, of a datightvr. ,_, Of On the 13th inst. :at the I)eanry House, Duutiu) non. Mrs. -Ponsonhy, of a daughter. Anititims. Saturdiv , e'nnight, at Wellingore, Lincohishire, Chrire pirkT N oe l, Esq., to Miss iMary Abbott, niece o f tbel li , (J. smith, E.g . . of Firthck . . A t P'"llituTp Mr. e John Broadhurst of Witbing t°°l Cheshire, to Miss Bailey, of Marto-n. VI IT. On St trdaY last, Thomas Man, Esq. of Peterborough., oir, Ott the Gill instant, Mr..lohi• Scutt, of. Leg'ee-stree t s tnin,Jiin, turmeric Trunipet-Nijor of tire Scots Greys. ,Tuesday last, Susannah, %cite of Mr. Thomas Gonl '3roadelist, Devon, being the last of three sisters, utel all of have died of declines in the short :space' of t Ice Ott Wednesday last, at Eouth, Mr. Ilacme,,, hong tbe (north death in the family within the last tour moot"' l . th s ' Exmouth, the father, a son, and two daughters. . - LONDON: Printed liy.L - 11. cmtsTmits, of No. 29, A• Orinaud-street, Queen-square; an:l published. b" r sw4 sclilPP` , ., Of No. 7, South Nlalton-street, at 11 0 ,j e t if °lnce, No. 112, Strand ; where Adecitiseuicotl , LtUcts, ale. (lost-paid) cuusi kit:addressed. // Ni X ° 7elice,' c o he 4-em lON Hai bte " 2l ) at ,~_ ~fyl .~r; ~ ~Ti~ recei, ??, Do. , 14€4.-per 'Th e 141 :9'", c ?ecto r of • " 0 re , : 4 ' 11 ;t0; ck erE , 4 tc ?4, r 14e rent; 13 -" r zoo 7 :4e f • 111 Tu t 11 0 “.1):1 X ki‘ lAN p t erl till $ .l C 4 lt~ l ;‘ I T Ir Y, 1 '4 1 4 , 4,4 ;:j1)( 1. 4. e 1 1 : : Il iqt• I ; 11 :, 1) ; ?*. `‘ll